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07/01/2008
By EWAN KENNEDY
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A few months back we put several new Hummer H3s through their paces in fair dinkum off-road conditions. And came away most impressed with its ability to scramble over and through deeply rutted muddy tracks, as well as up and down steep slopes with plenty of loose, slippery rocks. Harsh as those conditions were, the Hummer left us with the impression it could have done a lot more.
 But a couple of weeks ago we came back to reality and lived with an H3 in more typical conditions. That is, driving around the suburbs, sitting in traffic jams, even in some of the toughest suburban tasks of them all, the mundane world of shopping.
The latter was interesting and showed up the strengths and weaknesses of the big American 4WD. Odd as it may sound, the biggest advantage of owning a Hummer when we took it to our local shopping centre, the sprawling Pacific Fair complex on the Gold Coast, is its size. No matter where we parked, it towered above everything else, making it a snack to find, even after our brains became dazed with the rigours of Christmas shopping. The fact that our test vehicle was finished in a bright yellow hue did it no harm at all.
Parking was relatively easy. The Hummer H3, isn’t as big as it look. While still a relatively large vehicle, and deliberately styled to look bigger than it really is, the H3 is similar in size to SUVs such as the Ford Territory, Mitsubishi Pajero and Toyota Prado. It’s wider than average but an normal sized parking spot will accept it with relative ease. And the turning circle, deliberately made nice and tight for hard off-road conditions, meant it could be slotted in quite simply.
Height is never a problem in normal underground car parks.
The added width of the Hummer shows up in suburban driving. It doesn’t quite fill normal traffic lanes, but feels as though it does and you have to concentrate to keep it where it should be. On the open road, the H3 shows its suspension is on the crude side. The steering is vague in the straight-ahead position in the manner much loved by the Americans. The Hummer has decent road grip but the tail tends to jiggle about at times in country driving. All-in-all, it’s not a lot of fun to drive in the suburbs.
Then again it’s more than competent in the sort of forest trails that are likely to be explored by the typical family driver of a weekend.
There have been previous imports of the Hummer by private individuals. But it’s now in Australia for the first time on an official basis. It’s backed by General Motors Holden, GM having owned the Hummer brand since 1999.
 Though the H3 may look like the original military vehicle, the famed HMMWV (Humvee), it’s actually a completely different vehicle. It’s based on a Chevrolet light truck, which in turn uses quite a few Isuzu components. In short, there's a fair bit of Holden Rodeo underneath that brash American SUV body.
The Hummer's interior has good space for four adults, with plenty of width thanks to the overtly square shape. There's quite a climb up to the seats, but that’s to be expected in any fair-dinkum 4WD with proper ground clearance. The view out could verge on the claustrophobic for some occupants thanks to the small windows and high waistline.
Boot space is good, but the rear tailgate is hinged on the wrong side for Australia so it’s necessary to walk out to the ‘traffic’ side of the car to load it. Again, the height of the vehicle raises the floor so it can be awkward to load. The rear seats fold down to give added space, but don’t go completely flat, nor do they give a straight-through boot floor.
Power for the Hummer H3 comes from a 3.7-litre inline five-cylinder petrol engine. It produces 180 kW and 328 Nm; with 90 per cent of maximum torque being available from 2000 to 6000 rpm. The result is performance that’s better described as adequate rather than good. Fuel consumption is not a strong point and we typically used about 14 to 17 litres per hundred kilometres in normal running. Serious off-road driving would push that sky high, but that’s only to be expected. A turbo-diesel would make a lot more sense, but isn’t expected be introduced until 2009. |
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